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The Lost City

I plan on running a mini campaign based on the classic 1e module "The Lost City", and if there are any old school gamers out there, or anyone who's familiar with it, please share your thoughts.
I have some things down on paper already, but for the most part, I'm still in the brainstorming phase...

I plan on running a mini campaign based on the classic 1e module "The Lost City", and if there are any old school gamers out there, or anyone who's familiar with it, please share your thoughts.
I have some things down on paper already, but for the most part, I'm still in the brainstorming phase...

Well as far as source material goes I assume you have the module itself. There was a dungeon adventure recently set there:

"Masque of Dreams" by Matthew Conklin III, Dungeon #142

Dragon magazine also updates the setting to 3.5:
"Return to the Lost City" by Mike Mearls, Dragon #315

Cynidicea is actually set in the Alasiyan Desert which is further detailed in the long out of print product GAZ 2: The Emirates of Ylaruam by Ken Rolston. Paizo has a PDF of the product or you can brave Ebay. I don't personally own the product, but from what I hear diehard Mystara fans usually consider it "one of the good ones" in the Gazeteer series. It definitely emphasizes the 1001 Arabian Nights feel.

The Lost City has almost a dream-like quality, a morality fable of a city of masks punished for its own sins by being trapped in a howling demon-haunted desert. You could easily insert the module into an Arabian campaign ala Al-Qadim (think Irem the City of Pillars from "1001 Arabian Nights") or you could create some reason that the PCs cannot leave the city. They have been bonded by the blood of Zargon and only the creature's death will free them and the rest of the citizens from their imprisonment in the Lost City.

I actually own a (ripped & wrinkled) copy of the original module. I plan on expanding the maps a bit, and having the cult of Zargon & the creature itself, play a greater role. I currently have Zargon as a unique "aboleth based" creature with the "monster of legend" template- Cynidica was built over a aboleth ruin (one of the ideas I had in mind & when I read the latest dungeon, it sold me on the idea) and Zargon was the result of the ancient aboleth's dark power...
just a start...

I actually own a (ripped & wrinkled) copy of the original module. I plan on expanding the maps a bit, and having the cult of Zargon & the creature itself, play a greater role. I currently have Zargon as a unique "aboleth based" creature with the "monster of legend" template- Cynidica was built over a aboleth ruin (one of the ideas I had in mind & when I read the latest dungeon, it sold me on the idea) and Zargon was the result of the ancient aboleth's dark power...
just a start...

I like Zargon as an aboleth exile or even better a rogue aboleth construct that has gained a little too much free will. The monster as faux-beast god has a real Conan feel to me. In fact, if you want superb source material, read R.E. Howard's most excellent "Red Nails".

Another interesting take on an aboleth city can be found in the old OOP 2nd edition box set "Night Below" -- the aboleth city of Shaobath. Also, that campaign features a genuinely sinister aboleth plot that may provide inspiration.

The Lords of Madness HC also recently gave a lot of 3.5 background on the aboleth. The all too brief section tying the aboleth to the Cthulhu mythos really made that book for me.

You could add an "Innsmouth" touch by playing up that generations of Cynidicians are slowly being transformed into Skum. The masks of course hide their increasingly inhuman features.

Another thing I really like about the Lost City module as written is the fact that the PCs arrived starving and dehydrated after getting lost in a desert. That means in order to get food they MUST negotiate with one of the factions or die. This gives a solid reason for even the most inveterate of hack and slashers to talk to the citizens of the Lost City. And as soon as they negotiate, quickly they get entangled in the brutal politics of the Failing City.

some good points... i like throwing in some Cthulhu mythos here & there, so the Innsmouth idea could work. I really wanna create a nice background of the city & people before fleshing out the adventure itself. I want the high adventure of Indiana Jones, with the dark disturbing traits of a Lovecraft story.

P.S. now I have to find a copy of this "Night Below" boxed set. I have heard of it... now to locate a copy

some good points... i like throwing in some Cthulhu mythos here & there, so the Innsmouth idea could work. I really wanna create a nice background of the city & people before fleshing out the adventure itself. I want the high adventure of Indiana Jones, with the dark disturbing traits of a Lovecraft story.

P.S. now I have to find a copy of this "Night Below" boxed set. I have heard of it... now to locate a copy

I like the idea of pulp Cthulhu in the Lost City. That's a great idea for a campaign, something I would love to play in.

Regarding "Night Below", I own it. It really is a mixed bag. The second book of the box set is, as written, a tedious dungeon slog. But the third book has aboleth galore and until the recent "Lords of Madness" was the definitive source for squishy evil fish creature lore.

Amazon.com has it. Ebay has a couple of copies up for auction. Shrug. With a little patience, you could probably score a copy for $20. Without patience you could order it today for less than $40.

It really depends what you want the module for. If it's just for ideas, a crappy scan should be OK. However, a few maps are badly scanned, so if you want to lift whole chunks of the "campaign", maybe eBay is a way to go.

Last edited by fmitchell; 03-03-2007 at 07:20 PM.

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
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